Hi All, I took a look through some previous posts but they were either very old or had someone asking for some pretty intense criteria (climbing of every type, with swimming, good food, activities etc). Myself? I am a simple man with a simple wish:

Hi All, I took a look through some previous posts but they were either very old or had someone asking for some pretty intense criteria (climbing of every type, with swimming, good food, activities etc). Myself? I am a simple man with a simple wish:

I second the Lawyer and Haas topo (the Mellor is not nearly as complete or informative). Youíll need it anyway if you donít want to keep wandering off-route (though Iíd suggest planning on copying the pages of interest ahead of time to lighten the load). Once you have it, you can easily spot the routes that have the length and the level of difficulty, protectability, star rating and accessibility that youíre looking for.

As an initial pointer, you could start by scanning through the various multipitch cliffs in the Keene Valley/Chapel Pond area (Upper Washbowl, Chapel Pond Slab, Chapel Pond Gully Cliff, King Wall, etc.).

The camping options vary greatly, from spots tucked among large boulders, sandwiched between the road and the cliff and defined solely by a little sign posted on a tree; to larger no-charge campgrounds with a couple of pit toilets, still close to road and cliffs; to real backcountry places that will take you a while to hike to. Various hiking guidebooks and maps identify the locations of the campsites (High Peaks sector for the Keene Valley cliffs).

Hi All, I took a look through some previous posts but they were either very old or had someone asking for some pretty intense criteria (climbing of every type, with swimming, good food, activities etc). Myself? I am a simple man with a simple wish:

As Graviton5000 said, by Adirondack Rock, it is the current, definitive guide to climbing in the 'Dacks. Last I looked MEC in Ottawa carried it, and likely MEC Toronto does as well.

Others have mentioned it -- but Chapel Pond Slab is the classic easy multi-pitch first choice for the 'Daks. Beyond that, there are huge numbers of choices, depending on how much approach you want, how much adventure, how much back country... Poke-O Moonshine Slab, The Gothics, and lots lots more.

Set up camp in Keene Valley (Chapel Pond area). Within walking distance is everything from Chapel Pond Slabs, Washbowls, Creature, Jewels and Gems, and the Beer Walls. I actually really like the rock across the pond at Tanager Face - it's less traveled with some really nice climbing. More to do in this one area than one has time for in a single trip...

Chapel pond, by all means. The slab has great, exciting runout at an easy grade. 5.5 is different when you are 120' off the belay without protection! It's pretty secure though. Do Hesitation (5.7, four pitches) on Washbowl cliff. Even Weissner (5.4, 3 pitches ) on Washbowl is worthwhile.

The Spidersweb will keep you busy if you wany to try harder stuff. TR (5.10) is pretty "hang-doggable" for trad. The beer walls are within walking distance. Tillman's Arete is nice.

Definitely buy the Lawyer/Haas book. It might be the best guidebook I have ever seen.

If you decide to go into the backcountry, be advised that bear canisters are now REQUIRED for overnight camping in the High Peaks Wilderness Area.

Thanks Dagibbs! I'm from Toronto! I need something a little a larger than the escarpment for a change of pace...really appreciate all the feedback, tons of locations to begin researching which is exactly what I needed as opposed to picking a page arbitrarily out of the guide book!

Weir has hardly anything in the easier grades. Last I looked, Luskville/Eardley escarpment/Gatineau park was mostly closed off to climbers by the National Capital Commission, with a few exceptions, and Calabogie is very short. Montagne díArgent and Val-David have a bit more variety but as dagibbs mentioned, they are just as far from TO as the Daks and have nowhere near the height or selection.

The exception is really Bon Echo. if you donít know it yet, you definitely have to try it out. it's way closer to TO and more than a few routes are around 90m/3 pitches. The variety of choices at all grades over the whole cliff is hard to beat. The cliff is just about completely vertical too, rising straight from the lake (the easy routes follow lines of weakness trending left) so the subjective exposure you feel high up at BE has nothing to envy much longer routes in the Daks.

Finally, of all these options, only the Daks offer backcountry camping. For BE, unless youíre planning on bringing a canoe, youíre better off avoiding camping altogether and planning to stay at the Toronto ACC Hut so you can get dropped off at the foot of the climbs by their boat shuttle.

Thanks again! Bon Echo is on the agenda as well...but we wanted to do a slightly larger, more ambitious trip, a chance to visit the states and see soemthing that we can't do as easily in Ontario over a long weekend.

Thanks! Bon Echo is absolutely on my list for this year, only thing is, we can do that over an extend long weekend... for the DAKs, we were looking at a longer 1.5 -2 week trip and see something new in the US. We'll likely be going to Bon Echo before the DAKs.

Yeah, for a longer trip, the 'Dacks makes a lot of sense for what you're looking for.

The Chapel Pond area is definitely a good choice as a center of operations -- there's lots of good climbing close by.

If you don't mind traveling around a bit more, you might also want to think about the North Conway area of New Hampshire with White Horse and Cathedral Ledges. With Whitehorse Ledge, you'd be looking at close to 1100' routes. And the approach is trivial, and the down-hike is a well-maintained hiking trail.

A little more adventurous, but also worth considering, would be Canon Cliff in New Hampshire, too. It is, I understand, one of the more alpine feeling climbing experiences in the east.

Also, Hurricane crag on 9N has a few good routes-especially "Quadrophenia". Probably less crowded that the Chapel Pond area, and it never seems quite as buggy there, although that is relative in the 'Dacks.